History of San Pedro Sula

e 1890s, but most of this population growth took place in the 19th century. It benefited initially from the growth of bananas for export in the 1870s and 1880s and formed a close relationship with U.S. based shipper and railroad entrepreneur Samuel Zemurray's Cuyamel Fruit Company, and the construction of the Inter oceanic Railroad between 1869 and 1874 which connected the city to the coast at Puerto Cortés. Zemurray worked closely with local elites who invested in subsidiary enterprises and thus shaped the way politically for Cuyamel to establish itself and, along the way to pay very few taxes.

In the mid 1920s, it grew from 10,000 to 100,000 people, following a boom in banana plantations in the region. Today, the city's metropolitan area has almost one million inhabitants and continues to expand. The building of a rail line between San Pedro and the coast, connecting the banana plantations to the ports of Tela and Puerto Cortes, as well as heavy investment from the local Palestinian businessmen, spurred development of San Pedro as an industrial city. San Pedro Sula was officially recognized as a city by the Congress of Honduras on 8 October 1902